The present invention relates to a disposable applicator tray, insertable into the mouth as a mouthpiece surrounding respectively either of the upper and lower teeth and adjacent periodontal tissue, for topical application of fluoride gel and other dental medications to the teeth. The tray design, in addition to providing a more comfortable and natural fit in the patient's mouth, produces a relatively snug seal with the adjacent gum tissue so as to better retain and more thoroughly apply the medication to the teeth surfaces and prevent the contamination and dilution of the medication by saliva.
The conventional practice in the prior art is to utilize reusable trays, for topical applications of fluoride gel and other dental medications to the teeth, which are formed of vinyl plastic material and are in the form of an arcuate U-shaped mouthpiece with an open-ended interior recess adapted to loosely fit over either of the upper and lower teeth. The vinyl material utilized is relatively inflexible, thus imparting a high degree of rigidity to the resultant applicator tray which prevents a snug seal of the tray to the adjacent periodontal tissue. Further, the prior art vinyl tray is formed with a regular cross-section and smooth surface finish which precludes a firm seating of the teeth inside the mouthpiece. As a consequence the tray has a tendency to wobble and slide about in the patient's mouth, thus causing a loss of medication, the contamination of the medication with saliva with which it intermixes in the tray, and a very loose contact of the medication with the surfaces of the teeth. Hence the efficacy of the treatment is somewhat diminished.
Moreover, the vinyl material utilized in the fabrication of conventional applicator trays is relatively expensive, thus precluding, on economic grounds, the disposal of the tray after a single use. In order to warrant its expense the vinyl tray must therefore be used numerous times, and to do so necessitates the steps of cold sterilization by soaking in an antiseptic bath and subsequent drying after use to render the tray reusable. Further, because of the rigidity of the vinyl material used, the applicator trays of the prior art do not have the ability to conform to individual variations in the dentition pattern of the patient's mouth. In many situations this inflexibility causes an uncomfortable fit of the tray in the patient's mouth and, in addition, results in excessively large gaps between the edges of the tray and the adjacent teeth and gum tissue so as to allow substantial intermixture of saliva with the fluoride gel or other dental medication and its rapid dilution and drainage away from the teeth surfaces, thereby substantially diminishing the effectiveness of the dental treatment.